FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 7, 2018
Contact:
Lauren Gray, NCLR lgray@nclrights.org / 215.983.3099
NCLR Statement on Kavanaugh’s Refusal to Confirm that Obergefell, the Supreme Court’s Marriage Equality Decision, was Correctly Decided
Legal Director Shannon Minter, who was on the team of attorneys to win Obergefell, calls this refusal “chilling” and disqualifying
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Last night, President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, declined to answer U.S. Senator Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) when asked whetherObergefell v. Hodges, the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court marriage equality decision, was correctly decided. National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) Legal Director Shannon Minter, who was on the team of attorneys to win Obergefell, issued the following statement in response:
“Brett Kavanaugh’s refusal to confirm that Obergefell was correctly decided is chilling and poses an unprecedented threat to the liberty and equality of LGBTQ people. It is also a threat to the stability of constitutional law and the Court’s respect for its own precedent. He is willing to throw into question not only Obergefell and the right of same-sex couples to marry, but the Court’s commitment that it will respect prior decisions as settled law unless there are compelling reasons to reverse course.
“Obergefell held that sexual orientation is not a legitimate basis for governmental discrimination and that fundamental freedoms belong to all people. Three decades of Supreme Court precedents have now affirmed these basic principles.
“No nominee who refuses to acknowledge them should sit on our nation’s highest court.”
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The National Center for Lesbian Rights is a national legal organization committed to advancing the human and civil rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community through litigation, public policy advocacy, and public education. www.NCLRights.org
